A few months back I came across a free high mileage 1996 Cavalier, 2.2 auto, with a blown engine and thought it would be a nice project for me and my soon to be driving daughter. We found another 2.2L engine & tranny from a 98 Sunfire and over the next few months, proceeded to swap them out in our garage. Other than cramped conditions and the cold winter we didn't really have any major issues. The Sunfire engine didn't have an oil pressure switch on the oil pan so we swapped oil pans. That seemed to be the only major difference and everything else matched up nicely except.....the two stray electrical connections that are kicking my butt!!!!!!

I went through great pains to label all the electrical connections before pulling the engine but as fate would have it these two labels fell off. The car turns over but no spark at the plugs which leads me to believe that at least one of the connections is ignition related. The solenoid is connected (two connections) and all the other sensors (I can see) are connected.

The two stray wires are on the back side of the engine between the firewall and the engine. They both appear to be coming out of the main wiring harness but for one of them I cannot be sure. One is a three wire male connector (blue, yellow, and purple wires) and the second is a four wire female connector (blue, red, orange w/stripe, and black w/stripe wires).

I have both the Chilton's and Hayne's manuals but they're not a lot of help in identifying these wires. I looked around for some type wiring map but couldn't find anything.

Can anyone help me identify these connections and where they should go? Is there such a thing as a wiring map/diagram? Help......

The last engine swap I did was in a 1972 Chevy El Camino, 350 engine, auto transmission. Boy was that easy compared to this. BTW my daughter is now driving, my car until I can get the Cavalier done and she's losing faith in my mechanical skills.

Many thanks for any help.

David

one goes to your module (3 wires) the other connects right next to it cant remember atm what it is but they both connect right next to yoru coil packs, jsut changed mine today if i hadnt i would have been thinking aobut this all night long, but yea thats your problem right next to the coil packs connect them and you should be golden.

Keir,

Thanks for the info. I just got back from travel and tried to locate the connections you mentioned. Still couldn't find anything disconnected. I snapped a picture of one of the connections. This is the 3 wire and it reaches to the master cylinder. The 4 wire is a weatherproofed connection. Didn't get a picture but it has an orange ribbed gasket on the outside to keep out the water.

Does this one look familiar?[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\David\Desktop\050311 013.jpg[/IMG]

Many thanks for your help. David

I have seen many newer cars with extra connectors. They may be for optional accessories or generic wire harnesses for the body style. Like say a Geo Metro. The same harness on the 3 door model maybe used on all the other models.
So part of it could be that. Also the manufactures are kinda making it fool proof, by using different connectors, so you can't mix and match them. So do you have all sensors hooked up? Since I'm not real familiar with Cav's yet. Check wires to the distributor, to the crank position sensor, to the coil, to the ignition module, check fuses. Do you have the ground wire to the engine / transmission as well as to the body of the car? You could have pulled a wire or broken on or near one of the connectors. Let us know what you found.